Daily Devotional for April 25, 2017
Leaning Lydia
“Can you quiz me on some review questions for a test, Dad?” Lydia asked one evening. Dad agreed, so Lydia handed him her study sheet.
Dad asked Lydia several questions on topics she had studied. “Just a few to go,” Dad said finally. “What’s the name of the tower in Italy that leans? And why does it lean?”
“The Leaning Tower of Pisa,” Lydia replied. “And it was supposed to stand straight, but the ground it was built on was soft and it began to lean during construction.”
“Good,” said Dad, closing the book. “I’ll have to come up with some harder questions. Let’s see…what’s the Leaning Tower of Pisa leaning on?”
Lydia had to think about that one. “Well…something in the ground, I guess. But when you look at it, it doesn’t seem to be leaning on anything.” Looking out the window, Lydia saw her little brother wobbling down the driveway on his bike. “Eli’s leaning on something though,” she said. “Without those training wheels, he’d fall right over!” She grinned. “Is God holding up the leaning tower? Maybe He’s what’s keeping it from falling over.”
“That’s an interesting idea,” said Dad. “Eli, the leaning tower, you and me, we all need to have something—or someone—to lean on.” He smiled. “Eventually Eli will learn to ride his bike without leaning on those training wheels. But as Christians, we know we’ll never be able to stand on our own. We’ll always need someone to hold us up.”
“You mean Jesus, don’t you?” asked Lydia.
“That’s right,” said Dad. “Only by leaning on Him—trusting Him—can we be saved from sin and given eternal life. If we think we can get to heaven or be a good person by leaning on our own efforts, we’ll just fall right over.” He paused. “I’m not sure what’s holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Some people think it might fall one day. But you know what? Our foundation—Jesus—will never let us fall. No matter what happens, He will always hold us up.”
Lydia smiled. “So because I trust in Jesus, I’m Leaning Lydia! I’ll have to remember that.”
“Good,” said Dad. “That’s way more important to remember than anything on your study sheet!” – Nance E. Keyes
How about you?
Are you leaning on Jesus? Do you trust Him to save you from sin and give you eternal life? Or are you leaning on your own efforts and feel like you’re going to fall? Only Jesus can take your sins away and give you eternal life—you can’t do it yourself. Trust in Him—He is a solid foundation and will never let you fall. (See “The ABCs of Salvation” in the column to the right.)
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